The No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports team has been one of the most consistent contenders in the first four races of the 2009 season. Despite struggles on almost a weekly basis, Jeff Gordon, Steve Letarte and the entire No. 24 team have been able to keep their emotions in check and rebound for great finishes.

After going winless last season for the first time since 1993, Gordon was determined to start the 2009 season off with a bang. Taking the win in his Gatorade Duel 150 at Daytona, the four-time champion was able to celebrate once again, but knew he needed to do more. A twelfth-place run in the Daytona 500 was backed up by a runner-up finish at California. Despite missing pit road and puncturing a tire last week in Las Vegas, the team was able to recover to score a sixth-place finish and take the points lead.

Heading into this weekend's Kobalt Tools 500, Gordon was confident he could once again contend for the win and have the best points day possible.

Starting in the 16th-spot Gordon quickly made his way to the front of the field, breaking into the top-5 by Lap 40. Hitting pit road under green flag conditions on Lap 64, Gordon's clutch slipped, rolling the rear tires and dropping the car off the jack. Coming over the radio as he left pit road, Gordon told crew chief Steve Letarte the clutch was broke.

"It somehow was bleeding off or just had some air in it or something," Gordon said of the clutch failure. "On the first pit stop, what they do is on a four-tire stop, when they drop the right side, usually I push the clutch in, put it in first gear to get ready to leave. Halfway through them changing the left sides, the rear tire started turning, climbed right off the jack. We were lucky they finished the stop and we didn't really lose any spots. Had a little bit of damage to the side."

Making things much more difficult each time the car came to pit road, Gordon was once again dealt a tough hand.

"I thought it was a one-time thing until about the fourth stop," Gordon added. "I tried to get it, and it did the same thing.  There at the end, I would just put it in gear right as they dropped the left side. We gave up just a blink of an eye. At least we weren't spinning the rear tires, going off the jack, missing lug nuts. Could have been worse. The guys adapted well. We didn't panic. I thought it was a good job by the team to handle it."

Yet, despite the complications, the team never gave up and kept their heads in the game determined to make the best of a tricky situation. Coming up just short to the dominant Kurt Busch, Gordon was able to smile about Sunday's runner-up finish.

While he has yet to visit snap his forty-five race winless streak - remember the Duel win does not count - Gordon is confident with his performances thus far in 2009. Heading into the off-weekend, the driver of the No. 24 holds a forty-three point lead over Clint Bowyer in the series standings.

"I'm a big believer that you got to walk before you can run," Gordon said after his encouraging run. "I think we've turned the corner. This team has really shown consistently in all four races this year that we're a team that can battle up front and for the win."